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Five Ways to Warm up a White-on-White Modern Kitchen

07/14/2014
16 Comments

I know, you think I’m going to say yellow (since it’s my favourite colour), and yes, this colour will certainly warm up a white, modern kitchen, but actually here’s how you do it. First, this kitchen was designed by my good friend Interior Designer Lee Stergios in North Vancouver, who specializes in kitchen design. At…

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Best Ideas for Creative Kids Rooms: Before & After

06/29/2014
25 Comments

This post is written by my Director of All Things Wonderful, Irene Hill:

Last week at this time Maria and I were just finishing up the last touches of our magical home makeover for my sister, Aimee and five of her kids. They were all glowing with happiness and pride in their “new” home.

Four months ago, when Maria and I started this project of love, I carefully interviewed each of my nieces and nephews to find out what would make them love their rooms the most. I found out what they were interested in and spent hours scouring the internet to get all the little pieces exactly right. At the end of the day I wanted to see wonder and awe in each set of eyes and was over the moon that we managed to do just that!

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Smile Sweetly and Ask Nicely While You’re on Vacation

05/17/2014
73 Comments

It’s a good thing my brother-in-law Dr. Bill Jacobs is a good holiday planner because he’s directly responsible for the fact that Terreeia and I are here in Scottsdale, Arizona with my sister Elizabeth and my sweet nephews for 5 nights. William & Markus We’re staying at the Kimpton Firesky Resort & Spa. When we arrived in our looong…

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13 Ways to Create Flow with a White Kitchen

02/05/2014
28 Comments

View from the Master Bedroom In early 2014 I went down to Portland to work with a design coach.  I called my friend Barbara Miller who lives there to find out if we could have a visit. Barbara said “Yes that sounds great, and why don’t you stay in my Mom’s 6 million dollar house while…

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Sweet Cottage Blue Exterior

01/18/2013
12 Comments

I was so moved by your comments on my last post! Thank you so much, for being so generous and kind. I posted the email I received from the homeowner, it’s close to the end of the comments. I love my readers!! Okay, so you have to see this blue house next, it’s so fun!…

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Trend Alert: Is Navy the New Black?

06/26/2012
37 Comments

My good friend Stu Stiller is always sending me colourful emails to keep me on my toes and the latest was Kohler’s new colourful sink collection by Jonathan Adler. Images from Kohler This is Jonathan’s kitchen, he chose the green for himself. What I find fascinating about his colour choices is that this green is…

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The Shocking Truth about your Ceilings

05/26/2012
36 Comments

Having lived in rentals for so long, I am used to living in homes/apartments that smell. . . old. I always assumed that the bad, old house smell came from the carpets but Dillon, the owner of  Pure Painters (who are currently painting my house, we move Wednesday), said that your ceilings–especially if they are…

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A Perfect Example of how Complex Colour Works

03/02/2012
7 Comments

Annie sent me this photo and with a question, ‘Are my sofa’s pink beige?’. She said in her current house (2nd photo) they looked yellow and in her last house (photo below) they looked pink. And she was absolutely right. The reason why complex neutrals are so complicated is because they change depending on which colours are beside them.

The wall colour below is BM HC-105 Rockport Gray (the whole room is the same colour but the light coming in from the left makes it look lighter in the photo) which has a green undertone. This pulls out the pink in her sofas.

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3 Ways to Update a Brand New House

04/21/2011
34 Comments

Whenever I am with a client either on the phone virtually (like the following house in Omaha) or in person and I announce that the carpet, backsplash or sofa (for example) has a—gasp–pink undertone, my clients almost always react the same way—oh no, what do we do now!

ouse is brand new!”. I replied, ‘”Here’s how you know this kitchen is NOT current, you will never find it in a magazine from 2011”. That was all the confirmation Laura needed (and luckily her husband agreed). She set about painting all the oak woodwork including the kitchen white and here are the results!

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10 Ways to get a Fresh Look with a Black Sofa

04/20/2011
14 Comments

There are just as many black leather sofas in family rooms as brown ones these days all over the country so if you are looking for an update or need black or a dark colour because you have kids, here are my recommendations: 1. How about this one in fabric? This is IKEA’s Stockholm sofa….

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